Expressive of face and voice this champagne-quaffing pair fulfilled their roles with suitable vulgarity. London I loved the witty set (designer. Ema Cunha Where these singers find the energy isn't clear: this week, they are also being wood nymphs, Spanish aristocrats and Italian peasants, in several other operas. Called Miss Fortune, the story is about money, fate and fortune. When the curtain rose on the UK premiere of Judith Weir's Miss Fortune at the Royal Opera House, one thing at least was clear: this bright, coarse staging by Shi-Zheng Chen would flog the living daylights out of the opera's frail, pale construct, inflate it grotesquely beyond its natural size and, by this eye-catching but totally irrelevant visual aeration, render it all but nonsensical. Her struggles are closely shadowed by Fate sung by counter-tenor Kieron-Connor Valentine. Dominic Stokes* Oliver Mears' new production of Britten's chamber opera is a visceral reflection on tyranny and sexual violence. But Weir creates much variety of timbre and a fair degree of potency throughout. The opera reworks a Sicilian folktale as a contemporary parable. Meanwhile, the cast plunged into the nitty-gritty ("Four steps to the left, take the glass from Kathryn, turn "). Strahinja Mitrovic, Clarinet Alan Ewing as Lord Fortune, Emma Bell as Tina and Kathryn Harries as Lady Fortune in the Royal Opera's production of Judith Weir's Miss Fortune. Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. Phil Sizer, Staff Production Manager For Rap read rhyming couplets. Was it a plane, a boat or a train? In 2014 she was appointed . [2] See something missing? 4 - Julia Kleitner, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Gatti, A Conversation With LIISA RANDALU: Schumann Quartet release 2nd CD, ENCOUNTERS: Edward Seckerson talks to Broadway composer LUCY SIMON, Edward Seckerson talks to RENE FLEMING about The Light in the Piazza, A Conversation With VASILY PETRENKO: RLPO Shostakovich Symphonies, A Conversation With SIR PAUL McCARTNEY: BBC Radio 4 Kaleidoscope, A Conversation With VICTORIA WOOD: New TV drama, Loving Miss Hatto, A Conversation With DAVID McVICAR & SARAH CONNOLLY: Charpentiers Medea, GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. Judith Weir is a Honorary Patron for Sound and Music. YouTube Encyclopedic. Not entirely, and not so extravagantly and hopelessly. And yet the characters are archetypes who grovel in the dirt of clich. Sad to say but Judith Weir's sixth opera is an embarrassment. Noah Stewart on Miss Fortune - Interview 9,070 views Feb 22, 2012 American tenor Noah Stewart on his Royal Opera House debut role in Judith Weir's Miss Fortune. Judith Weir Miss FortuneLord Fortune Jacob Harrison, Lady Fortune Amy Holyland, Tina Erin Gwyn Rossington, Fate Kieron-Connor Valentine, Hassan Florian Panzieri, Donna Laura Fleur, Simon Jack Holton; Director Martin Lloyd-Evans, Conductor Dominic Wheeler, Designer Anna Reid, Lighting Anthony Doran, GSMD Orchestra. Based on a Sicilian folk tale, Miss Fortune has some of the elliptical angularity of Weir's successful A Night at the Chinese Opera (1987). This new co-production receives its UK premiere in March 2012. So, turning convention on its head, weve a fatalistic riches-to-rags tale transposed from a Sicilian original and relocated in time and place to take account of the financial ills and social unrest of the here and now. More information, Don't have an online account? Judith Weir must be considered one of the most successful Britishoperacomposers since Britten, Get priority booking for outstanding performances & access to exclusive events, 2023 Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS, See the CVs for Guildhall School Final Year Production Arts students, Production Arts teaching staff and technicians can be found on our website. Silk Street Molly Hands, Assistant Carpenters Nicole Ma, Percussion Sad because Weirs folk inspired fables have won many friends, sad because she is a composerly composer whose luminous orchestral backdrops and singable vocal lines display an honest talent that never hides behind overworked technique. The much-publicised breakdancers of Chen Shi-Zengs efficient but actually rudimentary staging only serve to highlight how irrelevant Weirs musical language is to her conception. This is a past event. The most recent opera is Miss Fortune, premiered at . Judith Weir Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. My reworking begins with a financial crash and ends with an unlikely lottery win - yet I didn't set out to write a piece about. Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. In 2014-15 there were releases of The Vanishing Bridegroom (NMC) and Storm (BBC Singers/Signum). [13], The American premiere of Miss Fortune was originally planned in 2011 by the Santa Fe Opera to be a part of its 2014 season, but it was announced in the summer of 2012 that the opera was to be replaced by the North American premiere of Huang Ruo's Dr. Sun Yat-sen.[22]. Stamatia Tsaroucha full of truisms and clunky metaphors and for all its images of deprivation and violent disorder is about as streetwise as a visitor from Venus. Applying that usage, it has had many "adventures" over the years and the discard pile is high. During this time she began to write a series of operas (including, As resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1990s, she wrote several works for orchestra and chorus (including, In recent years, Judith Weir has considerably expanded her choral catalogue, with regular performance by choirs worldwide of music such as her Christmas carol. 145 Miss Weir Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE Collections Project #ShowUs Creative Insights EDITORIAL VIDEO BBC Motion Gallery NBC News Archives MUSIC BLOG BROWSE PRICING ENTERPRISE VisualGPS INSIGHTS BOARDS BASKET SIGN IN Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO . Plan your journey and find more route information in Your Visit or book your car parking space in advance. Simon, a wealthy young man Jack Holton (28 Feb & 4 Mar), Jonathan Eyers (2 & 7 Mar), Chorus of sweatshop workers and party guests: Never should the final authority be taken away from the composer, but a question might stimulate a rethink. Not something you often come across in opera. Alaric Green The clarity of the costume design made the characters instantly knowable, too: a stroppy teenager, a lady from a launderette, a positive-thinking businessman these types look the same anywhere. Judith Weir Biography Recordings Related Composers Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. Sad to say but Judith Weirs sixth opera is an embarrassment. How come that trumpet B-flat sounded so great in the Austrian Alps, but in London was clearly a wrong note? Josephine Lockwood First things first: Chen Shi-Zhengs production, created for the works premire at Bregenz Festival last year, is one of the most visually stunning opera productions I have ever seen. As resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1990s, she wrote several works for orchestra and chorus (including Forest, Storm and We are Shadows) which were premiered by the orchestras then Music Director, Simon Rattle. By contrast, the premiere production (as often happens) seemed to be aiming at a left-field reimagining of a piece which no-one had yet seen. But when the once wealthy Tina (a self-consciously red-headed but vocally resolute Emma Bell) turns on Fate (a wasted Andrew Watts) and halfway through this short and pointless evening enquires: Was it you who turned my life upside down? we know weve come precisely nowhere very fast. WEI. In food terms this was a programme comprising starter and main course, a well-designed menu beginning with a romantic comedy and followed by a picaresque meditation on fate with much to nourish the ears, eyes and mind. Lisette Oropesa leads strong vocal performances in Handel's madcap tale of love and sorcery. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office.[2]. Guildhall Schools Opera department presents a double bill of operatic works exploring romantic love, fate and fortune. Everyone is meaner, more downcast, more jubilant. Charlotte Antingham But I personally have been feeling thoroughly revived after GSMD's energy-giving version of my 2011 opera "Miss Fortune" which opened at the beginning of March. My reworking begins with a financial crash and ends with an unlikely lottery win yet I didn't set out to write a piece about contemporary events. ), full of truisms and clunky metaphors" and "about as streetwise as a visitor from Venus". . Rodrigues [13] Her first stage work, The Black Spider, was a one-act opera which was premiered in Canterbury in 1985 loosely based on the short novel of the same name by Jeremias Gotthelf. Honours for her work include the Critics Circle, South Bank Show, Ivor Novello and Elise L Stoeger awards, a CBE and The Queens Medal for Music. Malena Benavent 9 Bavarian Radio Sinfonieorchester/Rattle, GRAMOPHONE Review: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. Judith Weir is a composer who, despite a huge body of work that ranges from grand operas to piano concertos to songs for children, has never sought the limelight. On 21 July 2011, her first opera for 17 years, Miss Fortune (Achterbahn), premiered at the Bregenz Festival in Austria. 7 Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Petrenko, NOTES FROM LOCKDOWN: Nigel Lilley in Conversation, GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. Antonio Daz Fernndez Kosuke Shirai Benedict Swindells* [21] Andrew Clements wrote in The Guardian of "a long two hours in the opera house" with scenes that "follow like cartoonish tableaux, without real characterisation, or confrontation, and without suggesting a dramatic shape", and also criticised the "twee rhyming couplets and inert blank verse" of Weir's libretto. Commissioned byBregenzFestival and the RoyalOperaHouse and premiered in 2011,Miss Fortuneis a contemporary re-telling of a Sicilian folk story. But I personally have been feeling thoroughly revived after GSMD's energy-giving version of my 2011 opera "Miss Fortune" which opened at the beginning of March. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Silver Tassie Operas. Aina Miyagi Magnell Voices & Orchestra. Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. Tobias Campos Santinaque Nina Lim Digory Price Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. What doesnt change, at least in the 53 minute first act, is her accenting: the music is continually using devices to ratchet up the tension - chromatics, diminished and augmented chords. Edward Seckerson in The Independent (London) wrote of "Miss Fortune in name and deed" and described the opera as "silly and naive" and "a waste of talent and resources", with a libretto that "vacillates between the banal and the unintentionally comedic (or is that irony? Both the score and the individual performances After this she spent several years working in schools and adult education in rural southern England; followed by a period based in Scotland, teaching at Glasgow University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The UK premire of Miss Fortune is on March 12th at the Royal Opera House. Mario Gutirrez Gorria, Viola a reference to Mozart's great scene where people on a beach are menaced by a sea monster. Weve plenty of places for you to relax and replenish, from coffee and cake to wood-fired pizzas and full pre-theatre menus. It will help us make your newsletter content more useful. Two days after this premiere, the Royal Opera House announced the 2012/2013 new season and defended contemporary work as adventure, not measured by normal standards of success. Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parents. Written specifically for performance on American television in 1947, Gian Carlo MenottisoperaThe Telephoneis a romantic comedy in one act, written for just two singers and a hand-picked chamber ensemble of instrumentalists.
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